Geoff Warren recently joined the Macquarie Property team as Director, Project Management.

Sydney born and bred, Geoff entered the industry as a carpenter and builder in the early 1990s. After working his way up the ranks to become a high-rise construction supervisor, including on projects at Macquarie, he started a new role as a client-side project management consultant in 2000. Since then he has continued to lead project teams to deliver significant buildings and complex capital programs.

In his new role, he is accountable for all project delivery outputs on campus and leads a team of Macquarie project management staff, retaining expert external specialists if required to augment capability and manage peak workloads. Working in close concert with the wider Property team, the project management mandate covers the full spectrum of capital construction on campus, from flagship projects such as the Michael Kirby Building, all large and small refurbishment projects – from lab upgrades and deep building maintenance, such as facade replacements, to the current assignments underway at the Macquarie University Hospital. The team also supports our partnerships, both commercial and research, by helping create bespoke environments for research and incubator spaces.

Geoff is passionate about the role that the built environment can play in the wellness of our society: “Buildings create immense value for our communities socially, practically and economically. Conversely, they consume enormous amounts of materials and energy, and people spend most of their time inside them.

“As professionals we have a responsibility not simply to minimise the environmental impacts of their construction and operation but also to search for ways to design, construct, use and occupy them that enable us to be better connected, more engaged, happier and healthier.”

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1. A person you admire at Macquarie, and why 

I’m going to nominate a team – namely everyone who works at the Macquarie University Hospital. I am lucky to be a cancer survivor and even luckier that my life was saved right here on campus by the amazing team of talented, dedicated nurses, doctors and support staff. I am grateful every single day for the wonderful care I received – thank you. 

2. What you need to do your best work 

No one can do it on their own, and I am looking forward to working with the great team here in Macquarie Property as we continue to deliver rewarding, powerful outcomes for our community. 

 3. Something people usually ask you when they find out what you do for a living 

A very hot topic at the moment is housing – not simply availability and affordability, but the distressing number of contractor insolvencies and the disturbing increase of shockingly defective new apartment developments. I am consistently asked, ‘How can this be happening?’ 

4. Something you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you 

I have just re-read Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard. I was prompted to pick it up again after he recently rolled the Patagonia empire into a public trust, effectively gifting this multi-billion-dollar enterprise to the community. Apart from being an athlete, craftsman, pioneering environmentalist and – as he puts it – a reluctant businessman, Chouinard is also an inspiring leader. While the book could, in my opinion, use a solid re-edit, the feelings he evokes and the themes he captures have never been more relevant. 

 5. A favourite photo from your camera roll 

Here is a picture of our wedding at Shelly Beach in 2019. That’s Caroline and I with our three handsome sons – Cooper, Isaac and Tom – and two of their lovely partners Rachel and Indy, plus the world’s most excited five-year-old boy, our dear little mate Walt. It was absolutely everything we always hoped our special day would be and more! 

6. The first person you go to for advice (and why) 

My gorgeous wife and soulmate Caroline. She is the smartest, most genuine person I have ever met and absolutely has my number. She knows me better than I know myself and always makes a safe space for us to discuss, examine and resolve anything that life throws at us. She is a truly amazing human being, and I am the luckiest bloke alive to be her partner. 

7. Where you live and what you like about living there 

I have lived in Sydney my whole life, mostly near the coast and more recently in the inner east. I can’t help but feel very fortunate to be living in a place that is clean, safe and has so much to offer. Let’s hope our politicians and community leaders start making better decisions around social and environmental issues, planning policy, infrastructure projects and, in particular, housing availability for everyone who wants to join us in this wonderful city. 

 8. A personal quality you value in others 

Authenticity – pure and simple. 

 9. Something you’re trying to do differently in 2023 

It’s a little corny, but I’m trying to find some time every day to be as still as I possibly can be – and remember to see my life for what it is, rather than for what it isn’t. 

 10. I’m happiest when … 

Caroline and I have our boys and their partners altogether at our place – sharing a meal and some drinks, playing cards and having great conversations.